This invention relates to lawn mowers and safety interlock systems for power lawn mowers in particular.
Safety regulations require that power lawn mowers have safety interlock systems which cause the engine to be stopped if the operator releases the mower hand grips without disengaging the drive wheels and the cutter blade from the engine. Conventional safety interlock systems generally include a lever or bar located on the upper portion of the operating handle which must be pivoted downwardly into engagement and held against the handle grips before the drive wheels and cutter blades can be coupled to the engine. In practice, prior art safety interlock systems tend to cause operator hand fatigue and irritation when operated for long periods of time, such as in the case of commercial lawn mowers. As a result, it is not uncommon for operators to either remove the safety interlock system or to tape the interlock lever or bar against the mower hand grips. While this tends to relieve hand irritation and fatigue, operator safety is jeopardized.